STUDY: Hispanics View Obesity as
the Biggest Health Problem for Their Children

by HS News Staff

Photo: Hispanics View Obesity as the Biggest Health Problem for
Their Children

Adults across the U.S. rate not getting enough exercise
as the top health concern for children in 2012, according to a new University
of Michigan C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital National Poll on Childrens
Health.

In the polls annual top 10 list, a nationwide sample
of adults were asked to identify the top 10 biggest health concerns for kids in
their communities.

For the first time, not enough exercise was rated by most
adults at the top of the list (39 percent). That was followed closely by
childhood obesity (38 percent) and smoking and tobacco use (34 percent).

Hispanic adults were more likely to rate childhood
obesity first (44 percent), followed by not enough exercise (38 percent), and
also rated drug abuse higher than smoking and tobacco use. Black adults had
higher levels of concern about smoking and tobacco use, ranking that most often
(43 percent). They also had high levels of concern about racial inequality,
ranking it seventh on the list, and gun-related injuries, ranking that ninth.
Black and Hispanic adults both identified sexually transmitted infections as a
greater concern for kids in their communities than did white adults.